Number of imprisoned Islamists rises in Germany

Over 50 Islamists are imprisoned in the state of Bavaria, followed by Berlin (35) and North Rhine-Westphalia (34), the Rheinische Post regional daily said on Saturday.

Last year, 116 Islamists were detained across Germany.

In September, Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned that the country was facing a record number (over 500) of potentially dangerous Islamists, who could commit serious politically-motivated crimes.

According to the minister, about 360 individuals were ready to assist in preparing terror attacks in the country.

On July 18, a 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker launched an axe and knife attack on passengers of a commuter train in Bavaria, wounding five tourists. Four days later, a German of Iranian origin shot down nine people in Munich and committed suicide.

On July 24, a Syrian refugee exploded a bomb outside a music festival in Bavaria’s Ansbach, killing himself and wounding 15 bystanders, while another Syrian killed a woman with a machete in Reutlingen near Stuttgart. Daesh extremist group, banned in Russia and a range of other countries, claimed responsibility for the bombing.